Building or renovating? - NSW Fair Trading

How to contact Fair Trading
Our website
Visit www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au to:
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find out more about your rights and responsibilities
check the licence details of any builder or tradesperson
view or download Fair Trading publications
download free home building contracts
subscribe to news and information.
Telephone
Call Fair Trading on 13 32 20 for services including:
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licence checks
dispute resolution
general enquiries.
Fair Trading Centres
You can get face-to-face help and information from any
of our 24 Fair Trading Centres located throughout NSW.
Most are open Monday to Friday between 8.30am and
5.00pm. For location details, go to the Fair Trading website.
NSW Fair Trading – What we do
• Shopping and consumer guarantees
• Renting, buying, selling a home
• Home building and renovating
• Strata and community living
• Retirement villages
• Business names and licences
• Co-operatives and associations
• Product safety
• Resolving disputes
www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au General enquiries 13 32 20
Language assistance 13 14 50 (ask for an interpreter in your language)
TTY 1300 723 404 for hearing impaired
© State of New South Wales through NSW Fair Trading.
Copyright policy: www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/copyright.html
This publication must not be relied on as legal advice.
For more information about this topic, refer to the appropriate legislation.
FT309 March 2012
Building or renovating?
Fair Trading can help you know your rights
www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au

Are you thinking of building a new home?
Maybe you’re about to renovate, extend
or repair your existing home.
You should not rush into any home building
or renovation work without understanding
your rights and responsibilities. Contact
NSW Fair Trading for independent information
about home building and renovating.
Choosing a builder or tradesperson
To protect yourself against inferior building practices, only
deal with a builder or tradesperson who is licensed by Fair
Trading. Any person who carries out residential building
work worth over $1,000 in labour and materials content
without an appropriate licence, is breaking the law and
could be prosecuted.
Specialist tradespeople who carry out electrical wiring,
plumbing, draining, gasfitting, air conditioning and
refrigeration work (except plug-in appliances) must be
licensed, regardless of the cost of the work.
To check the licence details of any builder or tradesperson,
go to www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au or call 13 32 20.
Insurances for your protection
Builders and tradespeople should have various insurance
policies in place before work on your home can start. If the
cost of the labour and materials in your project exceeds
$20,000 the builder or tradesperson must have home
warranty insurance and you must be given a certificate
of home warranty insurance before work commences.
They should also have contract works insurance,
professional indemnity insurance, public liability insurance
and workers compensation insurance. Contact Fair Trading
for more information.
Get it in writing
Before you start any building or renovation work over
$1,000 (including materials) make sure you have a written
contract with your chosen builder or tradesperson.
The contract is the most important piece of
documentation relating to your building work. Residential
building work worth between $1,001 and $5,000 requires
a written ‘small job’ contract with minimum basic
information, while building jobs worth more than $5,000
must be covered by more extensive written contracts.
Read the contract carefully before you sign it. Don’t sign
the contract if you don’t understand it or if you think
something is missing.

If things go wrong
Things don’t always go to plan when you’re building
or renovating. Fair Trading offers a dispute resolution
process to help you and your builder or tradesperson
settle any problems between you.
If you have a problem, you should first talk to the
builder or tradesperson and try to get a resolution.
If this doesn’t work, you can go into any Fair Trading
Centre and a trained staff member will review your
problem and help you to resolve it.
The Fair Trading staff member may suggest you get
a copy of the Guide to Standards and Tolerances if
your dispute is about the building work itself. The
Guide will help you understand what standard of
work is acceptable. For example, it explains how much
shrinkage around timber windows and doors is tolerable
under NSW building standards.
In certain circumstances your dispute may be referred
to a building inspector. The inspector’s role is to meet you
and your builder or tradesperson on site, inspect the items
in dispute and help you to achieve a suitable outcome.
There are other options, such as taking your case to the
Consumer Trader and Tenancy Tribunal. Fair Trading will
help to guide you towards a solution.
Points to remember
While you are at the stage of thinking about doing
building or renovation work, remember ALICE:
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Most building work needs various approvals
before you can begin.
You should only deal with a licensed builder
or tradesperson once you have verified their
licence details.
Builders and tradespeople should have various
insurance policies arranged, in particular home
warranty insurance, before work on your home
can begin.
Make sure you have a written contract with
your chosen builder or tradesperson when the
cost of the work (including materials) is more
than $1,000.
Make further enquiries about your building and
renovating rights and responsibilities with NSW
Fair Trading.